본문 바로가기
  • Home
Basic Search

A Study on the Switzerland defense strategy in the Second World War : It's peculiarities and lessons learned

kim yong bin 1

1단국대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Located in the middle of Europe, a small, mountainous and landlocked nation, Switzerland deterred the First World War and the Second World War by maintaining neutrality. Since Switzerland was surrounded by the Axis powers when the Second World War broke out, German army planned to invade Switzerland several times. In spite of the political and economic weaknesses, however, Switzerland overcame such obstacles and effectively managed to defend the nation so that she could maintain the neutrality. The reason why Switzerland was able to maintain the neutrality among various nations was that Switzerland was a nation having not only a special policy of neutrality, but also military forces for the total defense with the strong national leaders. As the Second World War was on the verge of breaking out, Switzerland clandestinely formed a military entente with France, divided politics and military forces and appointed general Henri Guisan as a supreme commander. The supreme commander inspired the spirit of resistance in military troops by reminding them of the spirit of the founding fathers of the nation. Over one-tenth of people were recruited to defend the national border. Senior citizens over 60, women and the young were encouraged form local militia to protect their areas. The Alps was nominated for a base of resistance by Switzerland. Ammunition and food were also prepared for the prolonged war. The distribution system was operated and the most of territory was cultivated to increase productivity of agricultural crops. Resources under the Alps were developed. The organizations which acted to benefit the enemy were strictly punished by law and the rebels were promptly executed. Confrontation strategies which were to deter a war made Switzerland maintain her neutrality and discouraged the Germans to invade Switzerland. Recently, there has been an increasing opinion that the military system should be abolished due to the stable political and economic situation, but the majority insist that the nation should take selective service based on armed neutrality. Government is enforcing the civil defense facilities to be constructed and the military forces to continue training maintaining national conscription system. The Switzerland civil defense system is the most developed system in the world and 7 million people can be evacuated to those civil defense facilities. Switzerland, an armed neutral nation, and her strategies on detering a war can be a lesson to Korean people. Given that the Korean Peninsula has always been exposed to the provocation of North Korea, and possibility that a local conflict can be expanded to the total war, the effort of Switzerland to deter a war can certainly be a lesson to South Korea.

Statistics

  • 1,826 Viewed
  • 266 Downloaded

Tools

Issue List

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

Basic Search Advanced Search